AlanMorlock t1_j6byqkg wrote
Reply to comment by AMA_requester in The Banshees of Inisherin’s Writer-Director Has Made a Career of “Irishness.” It’s All a Load of Blarney by HanSoloHeadBeg
Also complaining his work doesn't reflect the modern country...when talking about period pieces.
pollyfossil t1_j6f2mba wrote
But in what sense is the film a "period piece"? Making occasional off hand references to the Civil War doesn't make it a period piece. The film didn't set out to depict the period of the early 1920s and it certainly didn't reflect anything of the reality of life at that time. It is instead a collection of clichés. I've read the whole article and think the author is spot on.
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6fau54 wrote
It's a period piece because it's set in an earlier historical period, that's what a period piece is.
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6fb4ci wrote
Who's to say life wouldn't have been like that on Achill island then?
pollyfossil t1_j6h7znj wrote
When you say life may have been "like that" what do you mean? People in picturesque tweeds strolling around spectacular landscapes accompanied by "miniature donkeys" and spending their disposable income in a cute "Irish pub"? Plenty of people know what life was like in the 1920s in remote parts of the west of Ireland - my father, for one. McDonagh would never claim to be offering an accurate depiction so it's pretty pointless to "defend" the film on that score. The author of the article refers to John Hinde postcards, and that is a pretty good visual reference for the film, which is not in any sense realistic.
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6hoiau wrote
Yeah, they likely did wear tweed and spend a lot of time in the pub, try to remember it's a film. Something being a period piece simply means it's set in a certain time period. The help in Downtown Abbey probably wouldn't have been as well treated as they were in the series but it's a period piece all the same.
So your main gripes here are the 'picturesque' tweed and the fact they spent a lot of time in the pub. Okay.
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6hp02e wrote
I'd be interested in knowing if there's any films set in Ireland you consider to be a good period piece. Have you ever watched the field? I'd also be interested in knowing if you're at all familiar with rural Ireland today.
pollyfossil t1_j6huezb wrote
Yes, I've seen The Field. It's grand but not one of my favourite films. I think that the John B Keane play on which it's based is very good. I don't think there are lots of great examples of "period" films set in Ireland, but I haven't seen Black 47 and I heard that it's very good so I must check it out. (I still think that thinking of TBOI as primarily (?) a period film is fundamentally misguided by the way). I live in Ireland but not rural Ireland so I'm as familiar with rural Ireland as anyone else who lives in Ireland but not rural Ireland is. Answered all your questions now?
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6hxgh9 wrote
You have, thank you. Now you can fuck off
pollyfossil t1_j6hz1wn wrote
Charming! 😍
LukeKellysLoveChild t1_j6fbj1m wrote
I think there's a tradition of music students coming to Achill island as well. The most unrealistic thing I found was the fact it never rained
AlanMorlock t1_j6fnae9 wrote
Even wildly inaccurate period pieces are in fsgt period pieces by virtue of being set in the past. Not thst complicated.
I do think k attempt to read much about thr civil war are over stated. It's not really metaphorical in any way.
pollyfossil t1_j6h7cgx wrote
Well, if you insist that it's a period piece then it's a really sad excuse for one because it makes no attempt to communicate anything about said period (especially if, as you appear to agree, the references to the Civil War make no difference to the story).
AlanMorlock t1_j6h8894 wrote
I don't know man, I dont really expect any given western to be a grand statement on 19th Century America either, but I have a cultural understanding what a western town was like. Are either version of True Grit a lesser film for not reflecting yhe concerns of modern day Oklahoma?
The type of pastoral setting Banshees is set in similarly has a long literary tradition and a short handed understanding. The figure ofnthr pub dwelling sheep farmer tracks as aboutnas well as a cattle rancher Ina saloon.
Given those preunderstood elements and trappings, you can understand just how small the world is for the characters in Banhsees, and how the set thr conventionalized routines. Much of the drama is at root between someone who was happy living eseentisllyneithon thst cliche, and others frustrated by it or making choice to move beyond them.
pollyfossil t1_j6ha6ht wrote
It wasn't me who started defending/ describing the film as a period piece. It's a dead end way of approaching it. Yes, you could compare it to a western in terms of settings and characters being archetypes as opposed to realistic - that's certainly closer to what McD is doing. But for me, they were less archetypes than really hollow and uninteresting stereotypes. I found the film incredibly shallow and dull. Much and all as I love Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, I also didn't think much of their performances, which were both very one note (but not really their fault because the characters were one note). Bottom line, I hate McDonagh's shtick, and I think it is just shtick, and it's well discussed in the article. I know other people like the film and that's fine.
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